Author: Jeffrey Heck
YPT version 2 Published (UPDATED)
UPDATE #2 (2/9/18, 9:50 AM): I have received more information from the Crossroads of America Council Training Director Jay Soucy, via Director of Field Service for Central Section Ken Ruppel. This information is posted in a newer article.
National Council has published a new version of Youth Protection Training.
Initial reviews of ease-of-use have been less than favorable. So, remembering the Scout Law is going to be important for the first few weeks.
Initial indications are that this update has several significant changes:
- A requirement all scouters update their YPT by October 1, 2018, regardless of their current expiration date.
- No scout, venturer, or explorer will be allowed to tent with another youth of greater than 2 years age difference or maturity. This is due to FBI statistics that show that youth abuse other youth of large age disparity.
- Co-ed rules from venturing have been incorporated across the entire program.
There is probably more, but I have not taken it, so I cannot confirm.
The MyScouting app has been updated to allow this training to be taken on your mobile device.
The system will also use the ScoutingU education interface from Taleo.net, so expect a navigation problem.
More details as they become available.
UPDATE 2/7/18 at 4:00 pm:
I am working through the new modules. The YPT2, as they are calling it online, consists of four modules on Taleo.net, the host website for ScoutingU.
The first module is an overview of why preventing abuse is important and the concepts of Youth Protection. It is very well done and a bit disturbing but it really has more adult maturity to it than the old YPT ever did. I had no real technical problems. I had to learn to advance the slides or submoduals using the forward skip button. This means that it is harder to let the video play and ignore it if you hope to get done any time in the 21st century.
The second module is about sexual abuse and grooming. The content is much more similar to the old YPT. I had many technical problems. I started on a Safari browser on my Mac. When it locked up during the scenarios, I moved to Google Chrome for Mac. It eventually allowed me to move forward, but the scenarios submoduals never did work correctly. I have little confidence that the browser choice had any effect.
The third module is about bullying. It talks about verbal, social, and physical bullying. It describes cyberbullying as a subcategory of social bullying.
The fourth module is the YPT certification test. The questions are very straightforward. They only have a few that have tricky turns of phrase. If you read moderately carefully, you will have a reasonable chance of passing.
Initiallly, my completed training did not populate my “Youth Protection Training Cert.” on the My Dashboard:My Training:YPT page on my.scouting.org. That may be a technical glitch. The training was showing as 100% Complete on Taleo.net/ScoutingU.
Overall, I would say the content is a vast improvement over the old courses. There are new procedures in place that make compliance much easier. The most profound change is the implementation of a Scout First Help Line at (844)SCOUTS-1. This national toll-free number is designed to help put counseling and reporting to the BSA in one place. It is designed to answer questions, too. Put this phone number on the top of all your outing worksheets and contact information. Put it in your smartphone.
Surprisingly there is little emphasis on the co-ed aspects of scouting. The new rules sound nearly identical to old Venturing YPT requirements.
There are two courses listed on Taleo.net/ScoutingU. One is “MANDATORY”; the other “RECOMMENDED.” The mandatory one is what I described above. The recommended one does not seem to have any modules yet. I have no idea what this is for. It could be for Cub specific or Scout specific modules. We will see.
I have no additional information about whether the expiration date for training has changed, but I highly recommend taking the new training immediately.
New Minister at Zionsville UMC
On Sunday, February 5, 2018, Rev. David Williamson, Associate Pastor at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, and his wife Rev. Jamilyn Peigh Williamson, a fellow Associate Pastor, announced that they had been appointed by the bishop of the Indiana Conference of UMC to new positions.
David has been appointed as the new Senior Pastor at Zionsville United Methodist Church, effective June 1, 2018. Jamilyn has been appointed to create a new charity in support of Haiti, a passion for her.
This news is significant to North Star District for several reason. First, while Zionsville UMC does not sponsor a scouting unit, they have been supportive of scouting. Second, David and Jamilyn’s son has been a member of Pack 18 at Second Presbyterian and Jamilyn has worked with her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop. Third, I have worked with David in support of Troop 56 in the past and he is personally supportive of scouting.
So as we are looking toward the future of scouting in Zionsville, there are some interesting opportunities to consider.
Tentative Dates for 2018 Camporees
District’s 2018 Camporee Chair Rick Aker has suggested tentative dates for the camporees remaining this year.
The spring camporee is targeting April 20-22, 2018. Given the desired location, we are awaiting feedback from the hosting facility.
The fall camporee would be October 5-7, 2018. This may be changed if the spring host must postpone to fall.
New Dates and Location for District Committee
At the last District Committee Meeting, 2018 District Chair Mark Maucere proposed moving the date and location of the District Committee meetings. Mark reported that the District’s new Nominating Chair is Zionsville Mayor Tim Haak. His Honor has offered the Zionsville Town Hall for our meetings. The committee members approved the new location.
The District Committee will meet beginning in March on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm. The next meeting will be on Thursday, March 15, 2018.
Thank you to His Honor Tim Haak for accepting the role of Nominating Committee Chair and offering us such nice facilities.
The Town Hall is located at 1100 W Oak Street, Zionsville, IN 46007.
Please let Tim know about any scouters you would propose join our District team!
New Adult Applications
From Council’s Registrar Sharon Cone:
Hello all! We just received new applications from National, and I wanted to make you aware of the changes in the adult application. Some of it looks similar, some of it looks completely different. Here’s what to look for:
- Only 2 sets of initials required by signature line (was 4);
- Approval signature needed from Chartered Org Rep or Institutional Head only (no Committee Chair approval needed);
- Criminal Background Check Authorization page is very last page of the application (page 9).
I’ve attached a PDF of the new adult application, as well as the updated youth application previously released. The adult application is a scanned copy that I made, because the Scouting Forms page on Scouting.org does not have an updated version of the adult application, nor does it have updated versions in Spanish. I ordered Spanish apps but did not receive any.
You can find these versions in Field Service/District Executive Resources/Forms, etc. We will put the new versions out on the shelf and lose the old ones.
Any questions, let me know. Thanks.
Sharon Cone | Registrar
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
Crossroads of America Council #160
Application – Adult (English) 524-501 (rev’d 2/2018) (no word if older versions are still acceptable or not).
Reminder: Roundtable Thursday! Summer Camp!
From the new District Commissioner Stephen Heath:
All,
First of all, apologies for the late notice on this. We’ve been working through people transitions, and kicking off 2018, and this came together late.
We’ve come up with a plan for roundtables for the year!! Roundtable Commissioner for Cub Scouts Bill Buchalter, Assistant District Commissioner for Roundtables John Wiebke, and I hope to share that when we meet.
This Thursday, we meet at Luke’s Lodge [the outbuilding on the campus of St Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 W. 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260] to talk summer camp. The goal is a general discussion, followed by focus discussion.
Bill will lead a discussion on cub scout camps, and this is a great place for leaders (old and new) to learn about how we might effectively get ALL of our scouts to summer camp.
On the Boy Scout side, Patrick Covell from Crossroads of America Council has agreed to provide an overview of the great things available at each of our council camps.
The end goal is to keep our camps full year round, and we figured the best way to do that is by providing information and giving Patrick a chance to do a little marketing. I’m also hoping we might generate a needs/wish list from our Units of what the BSA can do to make the camps more attractive to our boys in their planning.
Kindly forward this within your Unit. The goal is to make Roundtable topics interesting and relevant, and my hope is to improve attendance to include every unit by year end.
See you Thursday,
Yours in Scouting.
Stephen Heath
District Commissioner North Star District, Crossroads of America Council
Assistant Scoutmaster Boy Scout Troop 358, Zionsville Indiana
Camp Card Orders Due Fri. 2/9/18
Camp Card sales season is here! Orders are due this week!
Cards are sold for $10 each with the scout receiving $5 from each card sold going in their scout account that can be used to pay for Camp Ransburg, the HALO trip, or any Scouting or Exploring purpose — to purchase equipment such as tents and backpacks, uniform, handbooks, membership fees, event fees, etc.
There are 14 multi-use offers on the card, 3 multi-use keyring tags, and 3 one-time use offers. Most discounts will expire 3/1/2019.
What merchants are on the 2018 discount card?
- Papa John’s Pizza
- Sports Clips
- The Escape Room
- Jiffy Lube
- Discount Tire
- McAlister’s Deli
- Jack in the Box
- Hardee’s
- White Castle
- Which Wich
- Stacked Pickle
- Tuchman Cleaners
- DICK’S Sporting Goods
- Rally’s
- Smoothie King
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- Prime Car Wash
- 1-800-Flowers.com
*more may be added*
Important Dates: March 1-April 13: Sale dates
More information at the Council website.
Please contact Jessica Hofman if you have questions.
Scout Night at the Pacers
From the Pacer’s front office:
Hello,
As a Scouting member, you are invited to participate in our Spring Scout Night with the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, March 25th vs Miami Heat at 5pm. Each Scout can earn a patch! This event will sell out, so do not miss your chance to root on the hometown team!
By purchasing tickets through this offer, you will also:
• Receive a FREE Scout Night patch!
• Have Access to a SPECIAL MEET & GREET with a Pacer’s player**This event DOES NOT include a post-game free throw, or a food/hat voucher. It is just a ticket to the game, a patch (same patch as the November game) and a post-game meet and greet with a player.
To Purchase: Visit www.pacersgroups.com/scouts; Passcode: Scout.
We are offering a limited number of lower level tickets for just $55! These will go quickly, so don’t wait to purchase!
Make sure to register by Friday, February 23rd.
Thanks!
Kalee Grant | Indiana Pacers
Group Events Specialist
o: 317.917.2824
Pacers Sports & Entertainment
Pacers | Fever | Mad Ants | Bankers Life Fieldhouse
125 S. Pennsylvania St. Indianapolis, IN 46204
Download the flyer for Scout Night 2018 here.
District Pinewood Derby Announced
District Pinewood Derby Coordinator Bill Buchalter has announced that the District
Derby will take place at its usual location the American Legion Post #3, 6379 N. College Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46220. All Cubs are welcome, but each pack’s top 4 finishers and each pack’s “Best of Show” are entered in the District Derby automically and free of charge.
You can download a copy of the graphic here as a PDF flyer to distribute to your pack.
Here are some highlights from the 2017 District Derby.
A “Failure” of a Son
A “Failure” of a Son is a video produced by a young man who taught himself Chinese after leaving college. I don’t speak Mandarin, so I cannot attest to its validity or quality of accent. I am impressed with the message. It plays well with why I think scouting is so successful by allowing scouts to “fail safely.”
https://letgrow.org/a-failure-of-a-son/
Once you are done watching the several-minute video, stop in the Let It Grow website to learn more about what this organization is doing. Its founder is an Eagle Scout mom and a bigger supporter of New York City Scouting.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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